Bowling-alley accessory.



M. SEITZ. BOWLING ALLEY ACCESSORY.

APPLICATION man 1AN.8,1915.

l 911,958@ Patented May 18, 1915.

, 4 ff-m- UMS MARTIN sEI'rz, or s'r. LoIiIs, MISSOURI.

'BOWLING-ALLEY ACCESSORY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May i8, i915.

, Application tiled January 8, 1915. Serial No. 1,149.

T0 all whom w may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARTIN SEITZ, acitizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bowling-Alley Accessories, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part hereof. p

My invention has relation to improve.- ments in bowling-alley accessories; and it consists in the novel features of construe.

tion more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

The present invention relates to an attachment secured to the return-chute of bowling alleys, the object thereof being to retard the speed of the balls returned to the player by the attendant at the pit. As a rule the attendant, or man at the pit who sets up the pins, throws the balls into the lent as to form dents in the balls, or may even result in the chipping of the ball around the sockets with which many of them are provided for the insertion of the y finger.

Theobject of the present attachment therefore is to retard the speed of the returning ball so that all the balls returned may roll back gently and without danger of the evil consequences pointed out above.

The advantages of the invention will become'clearly apparent from the detailed description which follows in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a section of. a return chute showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an outer face elevation of one of the brackets and hinged arm coupled thereto, thel arm having been partly deiiected outwardly yto illustrate the free play of the guide-stem through the rockerbearing of the bracket; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top plan of a portion of the return chute, and the device attached thereto illustrating the manner of deflection of the retarding arm by a rolling ball; and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-section of a modiication of the invention. i

Referring to the drawings, and for the present to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, C represents a conventional return-chute for bowling-alley balls, as-well understood in the art. Secured to the opposite sides of the chute at a convenient point along the length thereof,

and transversely opposite to one another, are brackets l, 1,. which are bent so as to bring their upper portions outside the planes of the side walls of the chute, the 4brackets being preferably lprovided with knobs or bosses aset intoy corresponding sockets of the chute to reduce the strain imposed on they securing screws s by which the bracket is fastened to the chute. Disposed on the opposite edges of each bracket (both brackets being alike) are perforated ears or loops 2 for receiving a hinge-pin 3, said pin being likewise'received bythe terminal registering loops 2 of an oscillating arm4hinged to the bracket about one of the loops. Bv providing each bracket with two loops 2, one on each side, any bracket may be secured indiscriminately to either side of the chute, and the proper loop utilized for hinging the arm 4 thereto, it being understood that the arm 4 is hinged to -theloop on the side which is toward the players end of the chute (Fig. 1). The inner face of each arm 4 is preferably lined with leather m or equivalent material so as to present a smooth riding surface to the periphery of the ball B passing between the arms 4, 4, disposed on opposite sides thereof. Projecting from the bracket 1 along a center line thereof between the ears or loops 2, 2, are a pair of posts 5, 5, between the free ends of whichis rotatably mounted. a bearing 6, the same beoing supported by screw spindles 7 '(7, inserted through the posts and entering suitable sockets or depressions in the bearing as shown (Fig. The rotatable or .rockerbearing 6 is freely traversed by the outer end of a stem 8 terminating in a head h, the inner portion of the stem being somewhat reduced in cross-section and screw-threaded, the free end of the screw-threaded portion being attened (Fig. 2') and pivotally coupled b v means of a split pin 9 between a pair of lugs 10, 10, projecting from the outer face of the arm 4 adjacent the free end of a stem 8 terminating in a head h, the 8 isa ring or adjustable abutment 11 between which and the bearing 6 (which serves as a stationary abutment) is conlined an'expansion spring 12 coiled about the stem 8, the tendency of the .spring being .toy force the arml 4 inwardly or toward the axis of the return chute C (Fig. 4). The tension of the spring 12 maybe carefully regulated by the lock-nuts t, t, operating" over the screw-threaded portion of the stem ,arms will converge toward the axis of the run-way (Figs. 1, 4,) and present their inner faces to the ball B as the .latter is rolling down (or along) the chute. The balls rolling in the direction indicated by the arrows (Figs. 1, 4,) will thusbe obliged to pass between the retarding arms 4, 4, which are yieldingly'held in the path of the ball, and asthe successive balls strike the arms, their weight and momentum effect a dis- *at the pit.

arms causing the latter to diverge or open outwardly to let the ball pass. The ball by its impact against the yielding arms loses considerable of its momentum, and afterit has passed the arms it rolls gently to the players end ofthe chute without jar or damage. After a ball passes the arms, under more or less compresslonunder the opening movement or oscillations of the arms) by their expansion to restore the arms to their normal or closed position to receive the next ball, and so on- The arms 4, 4, therefore act as retarders or brakes to placement of the prevent the injurious effects of too great.

momentum of the balls returned by the man 4Inthe form of the invention thus far described, I have assumed that two arms are .used, one on each lside of the ball; and

while that `is the preferred construction, it is possible to utilize a single arm whereone wall of the chute affords a bearing to one side of the ball. Such a modification is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5 where the chute C has a wall w extended upward on one side of therun-way to afford a bearing for the ball B while the opposite side is engagedby a single yielding arm 4 aspre-- viously described.

fIhe invention may be applied to` any chute the springs 1 2 (which were bers yieldingly engaging the surface of the ball from opposite sides, during the travel of the ball, whereby the velocity of the ball is retarded.

2. In combination withV a bowling-alleyc return-chute, traversed by a ball, a bracket securable to the side of the chute and projecting above the chute, an arm hinged to said bracket and extending across the path of the ball traversing the chute, a pair of posts projecting from the outer face of the bracket at a point opposite the hinge-axis of the arm, a rocker-bearing mounted between the posts a suitable distance from the bracket, a stem leading from said rockerbearing to a point adjacent the free end of the arm and pivotally coupled to said arm, said stem havinga screw-threaded portion adjacent its pointv of connection with the arm, a ring passed loosely over the stem, a spring coiled'about the stem and interposed between the ring and the rocker-bearing, and adjusting nuts on the threaded portion of the stem engaging the ring and regulating the tension of the spring. l

3. A bowling-alley return-chute attach-v ment comprising a bracket s'ecurable to the chute-wall, perforated ears or loops disposed on each side of the'bracket, a pair of posts projecting from the outer face of vthe bracket at a point intermediate. the

loops, an arm hinged to one of the loops aforesaid, a rocker bearing between the posts, screw-studs or spindles passed through the posts for supporting the rocker-bearing, a stem centrally traversing the rocker-bearing, and extending therefrom along the out- 

